Thursday, June 16, 2016

14 arrested at teacher protest in downtown Raleigh | News & Observer

Police arrested 14 people Wednesday evening, including several teachers, after they blocked a downtown intersection during a protest of Gov. Pat McCrory’s education policies.

The Organize 2020 group, sponsored by the N.C. Association of Educators, had sought to meet with McCrory after a 23-mile protest march from Durham and North Raleigh to the State Capitol.

McCrory’s staff said the governor had a scheduling conflict and could not meet with the group. The governor’s office later offered to arrange a meeting with two top McCrory aides. But when the group arrived at the Capitol building around 5 p.m., the building was locked.

That’s when the group decided to block the intersection of Morgan and Fayetteville streets. About 14 of them sat down and linked arms in the street, while dozens of others cheered and chanted from the sidewalk.

“What would be the harm in him sitting down with teachers and students and parents to talk about the state of education?” said Todd Warren, a Spanish teacher from Greensboro who was one of the protest organizers. “Obviously, we’re not getting the governor’s attention. He was last night at a fundraiser for (presidential candidate Donald) Trump, catering to the wealthiest 1 percent.”

Raleigh police loaded the protesters into two prisoner transport vans and took them to the Wake County Detention Center. The department said they will be charged with impeding the flow of traffic and resisting, delaying or obstructing law enforcement officers. A police news release said the group “declined to follow multiple directives to disperse.”

When they were booked at the Wake County Detention Center, seven protesters said they work for the Durham Public Schools, two for the Wake County Public School System, two for the Guilford County schools and one for the Chapel Hill Carrboro City Schools. Two gave no employer.